Examples Of Masculinity In Macbeth

As filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom once said, “There is so much violence in our culture because so many people are taught to value power and dominance, regardless of the cost to themselves and others.” In The Tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare applies the notion seen in this quotation and relates it directly to manliness. He argues that the male characters have a desire to be seen as strong and virile for the purpose of emphasizing what happens when one defies who they are. Shakespeare uses traditional gender roles and the idea of masculinity in order to reveal the calamitous nature of not staying true to one’s self.
In addition to maintaining traditional gender roles, Shakespeare highlights the destructive nature of masculinity through …show more content…
He creates this society where brutality is considered manly. Through this depiction, he shows the dangers of betraying one’s self. After learning of the assassination of his family, Macduff begins to mourn, and in response to that, Malcolm states, “Be comforted. / Let’s make us med’cines of our great revenge / To cure this deadly grief” (4.3.252-54). Malcolm tells him to fight instead of bewail the death of his family. He cannot act weak, instead he is advised to get revenge. Subsequent to Macduff fully registering the tragedy of his family and realizing that all of his children and his wife have been killed, Malcolm says, “Dispute it like a man” (4.3.259). Once again, he is given no time to grieve and is instead told to stop acting like a wimp. He cannot lament over the loss of his family because that is considered a feminine thing to do. He must be strong and go kill Macbeth instead. Another example of where a man cannot show weakness is when Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are speaking about killing Duncan, Lady Macbeth exclaims, “When you durst do it, then you were a man; / And to be more than what you were, you would / Be so much more the man” (1.7.56-58). She says this in hopes of convincing him to do what is necessary to become king. By threatening his ego, she displays the idea that if he does not murder the king, he will be a coward for the rest of his life.